Pick Up the Panty for Doutaz!

If you played roller derby, watched roller derby, or even just whispered the phrase “roller derby” within a 300-mile radius of Charleston over the past 13 years, you know Traci Doutaz.

You know her as Doutaz Mania, #859, president and trainer of the Lowcountry Highrollers, the power blocker with long blonde hair and spooky tattoos. You might also know she’s a problem solver in the local insurance world, a heavy-metal show devotee, and possibly the best person to have on your team for Harry Potter trivia. You might not know that, despite her affinity for black and taking out opposing team members, Traci is the most approachable, self-deprecating person and someone you can always count on – to check on you in the tough times, to cheer your achievements, to rebuild your roller derby team without even a practice space in a post-pandemic world.

Her Instagram profile says, “Live fast, die pretty.” But we want her to instead live a slow life, in which a withered old hag version of our blonde pinup girl is still rocking her roller derby jerseys and recounting tales from that weird time, circa 2012, where all the blockers knelt on the jammer line.

If you also want that for Traci, you’ve come to the right place. You see, as interesting as she already was, she had to go and get diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer. In her mid-30s. Come on, Traci. You were novel enough already.

And if you are or ever have been a young, healthy person, you know that medical insurance costs are for what the industry calls “catastrophic” situations. Traci needs five months of weekly chemo, followed by a double mastectomy, radiation, and endocrine therapy. Pretty catastrophic. Traci has a challenging year ahead -- physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially.

Let’s help her with that.

Consider this a campaign to show Traci how much we love her. Consider it a campaign to make our dear, interesting friend a little more boring.

And in case you’re wondering about the name of this campaign, here's what it means: In roller derby, a jammer can take off the star covering on her helmet and “pass the panty” to the pivot, who “picks it up” and puts it on her helmet to score points for the rest of the jam. Jammers use this move when they’re worn out or just want to use a little surprise strategy against the opposing team.

Traci is fighting through the pack right now. Let’s pick up the panty for her!

(write up by: Allyson Crowell - aka Green Eyed Sniper)